5 Members of Blaine's Family Who Don't Accept Him
by Azara-Rayne18
Summary: ... And the One who does. Another look at Blaine's home life. Hopefully explains some things about Blaine's life. Includes Klaine.
1. Mother

Blaine couldn't remember a time when his mother and father loved each other.

To be fair, Mother had been in the middle of filing for divorce when she'd discovered that she was pregnant. And Mother was never really a 'stay together for the children' kind of woman. She had simply thrown the pregnancy test into the garbage bin and penciled in 'work out a custody agreement' on her to do list.

"Your mother and father did not speak to each other the whole time you were being born," Blaine's Lola told him when he was young. She had leaned forward, hands on the gray tweed that stretched over her stomach, and added in her thick accent, "It's a very good thing there were two babies; your father held you while your mother held Leo, and when they wanted to switch, they handed you to me. Eventually, you got tired of this; when I tried to take you from your father the third time, you wrapped your little fist around his finger and would not let go."

Blaine loved that story, and every time Lola came over he would demand to hear it; how Leo would cry and cry when he was taken from a parent, but Blaine was smart, and he learned to grab hold of his parent so no one could take him away. Lola passed away when Blaine was eight, and he tried to get his mother to tell him the story, but she always left out the part when he grabbed Daddy's finger.

"Oh, did you?" She would say serenely when he reminded her, "Well, that sounds like you, my clever boy." And then she would kiss his forehead and tell him to go outside and play.

Being the child of divorced parents, Blaine sometimes longed for the days when he could cling to his mother's shirt or his father's hand and no one could move him.

He had never felt that way more than he did today. For the first time in his life, his parents had agreed on a full time custody arrangement. Blaine knew it was necessary, knew that his mother would have enough on her plate making the twenty minute drive to Dalton every morning without worrying about the two hour drive to Daddy's house in Lima twice a week. But Blaine still had to fight not to grab hold of his father's jacket and not let go when he hugged him goodbye on the lawn of his mother's house.

"We're so happy to have you here," Mother said brightly as she helped Blaine unpack his suitcase. "We'll have to get you some new clothes when we go to the pharmacy tomorrow. Remind me, okay?"

Blaine nodded, trying to keep his hands from shaking. Mulan was playing on the tv in the corner, and Mother hummed along as she tossed one of his old jackets aside.

'This is what you give me to work with? Well, honey, I've seen worse…"

Mother trailed off, and Blaine watched as her eyes locked on the thick band of purple bruising around his wrist. "Are you sure that you're alright, Bumblebee?"

"I'm fine, Mother."

Blaine always called her 'Mother'. Never mom, or mommy, or mama. Mother sighed and leaned over the suitcase, letting her lips brush his forehead and burying her nose in his dark curls. She took a deep breath and leaned back. Mother's hair was curly, too, and dark; it hung in spirals around her warm, round face. She stared at him through dark, almond-shaped eyes and pressed her lips together. "I don't know why those boys felt the need to do this to you."

Blaine swallowed and looked away, pulling his wrist back and cradling it against his chest. Mother didn't say anything else, but Blaine could feel his heart pounding in his throat, filling his body with uncomfortable warmth. It couldn't be so bad to just tell her, could it?

Mother stood up, placing the last of Blaine's things neatly in his dresser and setting the suitcase in his closet. "I'm going to go help Leo, now. Knowing your brother, he's probably just thrown his clothes all over the floor and called it unpacking." Mother wrinkled her nose; she hated messes. She turned to leave, and the tight feeling in Blaine's chest increased.

"Mother?"

"Yes, Bumblebee?"

"I'm gay."

The words twisted through the night air, thick and powerful, leaving a cold silence in their wake. Blaine stared at the bruise around his wrist, fighting the tears that were rising up inside him.

"… Blaine?"

"That's why they beat me up. Because I went to Sadie's with another boy," Blaine's eyes darted up to his mothers, "D-do you… do you hate me?"

"I could never hate you," Mother said. She stayed by the door. "I love you. I will always love you. Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Is Leo…"

"No, Leo likes girls."

"Oh. Well, that puts a dent in their whole genetics theory, doesn't it?" Mother said lightly, "…I love you, Bumblebee."

"I love you, too, Mother."

"You should go to sleep," Mother said, "You've had a long day." She flicked off the light and Blaine, still feeling a little sick and not sure what else to do, went to sleep.

The next day, they went to the pharmacy and picked some ointment for Blaine's bruises, then to the store to shop for new clothes. Everything seemed normal until Blaine found a pair of pink sunglasses.

"Put those away," Mother said sharply. Her eyes swept around the room.

"Okay," Blaine placed the sunglasses back on the shelf, more confused than hurt. But then it happened again, when he picked up a set of neon colored bowties, and again when he wanted to try on a pair of bright purple pants.

"Goodness, Blaine!" Mother cried when Blaine held up a bright pink polo shirt, "Can't you just dress like a normal boy?"

And then it made sense. Blaine flushed pink and dropped the shirt back onto the pile. Mother stepped away for a moment, and came back with a thick plaid shirt. It was plain, masculine… butch. "How about this one?"

"I don't like it." Blaine said. His face was getting uncomfortably hot, and he was staring at his shoelaces, sure that if he looked at his mother right now he would burst into tears and how gay would that look?

"Well," Mother said, looking slightly uncomfortable as she smoothed her hands over the shirt front, "Obviously you can't wear anything appropriate, so we'll just have to stick with the Dalton uniform for now. It's fine, Blaine, lots of boys your age don't know how to dress themselves."

She didn't take him shopping again. The months went by, and Blaine grew out of most of the clothes he kept in his closet. He mostly wore his uniform or borrowed clothes from Leo; Mother never seemed to have a problem taking Leo shopping. Mother never said a word about it, but he saw the way her eyes swept the room if he got too excited about something or if he got too friendly with another boy.

Mother never said she was embarrassed by him. But he knew.

And it hurt.

…

A/N: Because I can't resist casting Blaine's family members:

Blaine's Biological Father – David Boreanaz

Blaine's Mother – Lea Salonga

Blaine's Step-Father– Julian McMahon

Blaine's Step-Sister – Emilia Clarke

Blaine's Step-Brother – Jonathan Groff

Blaine – Darren Criss

Leo – Darren Criss


	2. Dad

Blaine was too young to remember the first time that Jonathan St. James first stepped into their home. His mother had met her future husband at a community theater when her twin sons were only 18 months old. Jonathan had two children of his own and a long term girlfriend, but that didn't slow mother down. She wanted the handsome, talented, arrogant, rich young man, and no girlfriend was going to stop her. The pair married when Blaine and Leo were three.

Sometimes, when Blaine concentrated very hard, he could remember his mother in her white wedding dress. He could remember being allowed to have two pieces of the towering chocolate wedding cake. He remembered standing between Leo and Jesse St. James in the groomsman line, all of them dressed in tiny, powder blue tuxes. Mother usually hated it when Blaine and Leo dressed alike, because she could never tell them apart, but on her second wedding night, mother was too busy being radiant to notice her boys.

Blaine did not remember that Mother had invited her ex-husband over solely so that he could watch the twins, leaving her free to dance. He did not remember that Jonathan's ex girlfriend had sat with them at a back table during the reception dinner, picking at her food and sighing as she watched the man she still loved waltzing across the floor with his new bride. Blaine didn't remember Jonathan and Mother picking them up at the end of the wedding reception, Jonathan laughing with his cold blue eyes trained on Blaine's father as he spoke to Blaine, "Call me Dad."

Blaine did remember "Call me Dad". It was Jonathan's rallying cry, his constant demand, and Blaine had heard it every day up until he began calling Jonathan "Dad" by habit. But Blaine didn't remember that Jonathan had first said it at the wedding.

By six years old, Blaine worshiped his Dad. Jonathan was talented, successful, with his slicked back brown hair and slick sense of fashion. By seven years old, Blaine was slicking his curls back every day.

"You should really let your hair breathe a little," Jesse said to him one day as he examined his own wavy hair in the mirror.

"That's not how Dad does it," Blaine said quietly, and that was that.

Blaine didn't want to be like Jesse, always trying to challenge Dad, always trying to step just a little bit over the line. Dad would have a bonding day for each of his kids, something he thought helped the morale of a blended family. He would take his daughter to beauty pageants, Leo to horse shows, and Blaine to the theater. He would sometimes take Jesse to show choir competitions, but generally, he took Jesse to the garage.

Blaine always knew when Jesse had done something Dad didn't like because there would be new parts in the garage, the floor strewn with displaced fenders and parts of transmissions and tools. Dad hated cars, or, rather, hated putting them together. Blaine and Leo recognized the attempt at bonding for what it was; a punishment. Jesse was usually the one in the garage, Leo had been there a couple of times himself, but Blaine was the good boy of the family.

And so, when Dad told Blaine he planned a bonding experience for the two of them the week after Blaine told him he thought he might be gay, Blaine had beamed and run upstairs to look at his collection of playbills and wonder which one he was adding.

Blaine's heart had plunged into his feet when he saw the neat pile of auto parts sitting in the corner of the garage.

"It's a '59 Chevy. I thought we could build it together."

"What did I do wrong?" Blaine asked.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Dad said, but he spent the next six hours growling over the instructions on how to put things together, and growling at Blaine whenever he fetched the wrong tool.

"Whoa," Leo had said when Blaine walked in at the end of the day, covered with grease and fighting back tears, "What did you do?"

Blaine hadn't told Leo. Blaine had been to scared to tell anyone but Dad. And now Dad wanted to fix him, wanted to build his character. Blaine didn't want Leo to hate him too.

"I don't want to talk about it." Blaine shook his head, felt the tears begin to fall, and ran up the stairs to his room. He threw himself onto his bed, sobbing into his pillow and ignoring Leo pounding at the door. And the next day, he plastered a smile onto his face, walked out to the garage and became the best mechanic's assistant he could. He spent every night that summer covered in grease, sobbing his heart out, unable to change the part of himself that his beloved step-father hated. The next year, he came out at school. Dad never tried to bond with him again.

Two years later, and Blaine could still remember what a carburetor looked like. He could still remember the feeling of grease between his fingers and tears running down his cheeks. He reached into his pocket, where he kept the first tickets to the theater his father had bought him in two years. The tickets he used on his date with Rachel Berry. Blaine shook that thought out of his head and focused on Burt Hummel.

"Do you think my dad built a car with me because he loves cars? I think he did it because he thought getting my hands dirty might make me straight."

Actually, Blaine didn't think. He knew.


	3. Juliet

**WARNING: Coarse and Homophobic Language to come.**

Blaine and Leo always knew that Juliet St. James hated them.

Juliet was nine years old when her father left her mother and married the woman Juliet affectionately referred to as "That Whore". Since that day, Juliet had made it her life's ambition to disrupt her father's new family. One of Blaine's earliest memories was being rushed to the hospital because Juliet pushed him too hard down the slide and broke his arm.

Leo's earliest memory was Juliet telling him that his mother's eyes were slanted because she was an alien, and he was part alien too, and soon the FBI would come and take him away to be studied in a laboratory for the rest of his life.

"You think that's bad?" Jesse said one day after walking in on the boy's exchanging stories, "When I lost my first tooth, Juliet convinced me that I was slowly falling to pieces. Then she told me I had to tape all my body parts on so they wouldn't fall off. Mom ripped half my hair out trying to get all the tape off."

"You know why my Papa married your Mom?" Juliet would hiss across the dinner table, "It's because she can't be in the U.S. unless she marries an American. She doesn't belong here, and Dad just feels bad for her."

"For your information, Juliet," Mother would say sourly, "I was born in Ohio."

Juliet ignored her, "You boys better be really good, or else Papa will divorce her, and you'll all be shipped back to Asia."

"You're a liar!" Blaine said, "Dad wouldn't send us away. Dad loves us."

"Papa doesn't love you," Juliet would scoff, "You aren't his real children. Jesse and I are his real children, you're just... step-children." She hissed the word out like a dire curse.

It was around then that Dad would say in his even, measured voice, "Settle down, Julie-bean." For all of Juliet's nastiness, she was Papa's little girl and, in Jonathan's eyes, at least, Juliet could do no wrong.

Some summers, Juliet would go to stay with her mother in London, and Blaine, Jesse, and Leo would stand side by side, caught between Dad and a very tight lipped Mother as they bid Juliet farewell. The boys would wait until Juliet's long, bleached blonde hair whipped out of sight and Dad started walking away before covertly exchanging high-fives.

Blaine was fifteen when Leo leaned over the dinner table and said, "Dude, Juliet knows."

Cold washed over Blaine's body, settling somewhere in his stomach and making what had once looked like a very good chicken dinner absolutely unappetizing. Blaine knew this day was coming, knew that Juliet was bound to find out sometime, even though he had specifically chosen a night she wasn't home to come out to his family.

"Are you alright, Bumblebee?" Mother said, concerned at the rapid way her son's face paled.

Blaine cleared his throat, glancing at his 21 year old step-sister. "I'm fine, Mother."

Juliet didn't say anything; she was forbidden to talk at meal times. But as soon as dinner ended, she was sure to make his life miserable. Blaine poked at his food Why did she have to live here while she went to school? Why couldn't she have just gone to her mother's and been done with it?

Sure enough, as soon as Blaine left the table, Juliet was following him, "Blaine! Hey, Blaine!"

"Look, I don't want to hear it, okay?"

Juliet paused on the stairs, surprised by the sight of her usually dapper brother snarling in her face. "Don't want to hear what?"

"I know you know that I'm gay," Blaine said, "And I'm sure you have a ton of jokes about how I'm going to hell or hair school, or about how my mother's such a whore that I had to sleep with boys just to keep up her record. Well, I don't want to hear it, okay! I hear it enough from everyone at school, I don't need it from you, too."

"That's not what I was going to say."

Blaine tried to hide his surprise, "Yeah, right."

"I'm not a total monster," She said quietly. "I know you can't help it; why would I say anything?"

"I can't help the fact that my eyes slant, but you mentioned that quite a few times."

"When I was thirteen!" Juliet said, "Look, do you want me to rag on you?"

"No," Blaine said.

"So what if you like dick? So do I. Dick's awesome!" Juliet laughed at the blush that spread over her brother's face, then her face grew uncharacteristically sincere, "So, I guess Papa didn't exactly leap for joy when you told him?"

"Not really, no," Blaine said.

"Well, he can be kind of a hard head sometimes. It's gonna be okay, Blaine."

Blaine nodded, and gave his step-sister the first genuine smile he'd ever been able to spare for her, "Thanks."

Their relationship did not suddenly become sunshine and roses, but it did slowly improve. Juliet stopped being quite so hard on Blaine, and Blaine stopped thinking quite so harshly about the things she did say. After being called 'fag' and 'whore' and 'buck boy' every day, 'Bobo the big-haired clown face boy' was practically a term of endearment.

Juliet even offered a hearty, "Get it, boy!" When Blaine finally explained that he was smiling like an idiot because he had a new boyfriend.

It was this encouragement that gave Blaine the boost he needed to ask Mother a very important question.

"Mother, can I invite Kurt to dinner?"

Mother paused a moment in washing the dishes, then turned the water off and sighed. "I don't know, Blaine..."

"I've been over to Kurt's for dinner every Friday this month. It would be rude not to invite him over to meet my family. I'll make the dinner myself; I'll clean up all the dishes afterwards, you won't have to do a thing... You let Leo have his girlfriend over."

"I know I did," Mother said, biting her lip.

"He's really important to me," Blaine said.

Mother looked over at him and sighed. She reached up with one hand and cupped her son's face, tracing his cheek with her thumb. "Mahal ko." It was one of the phrases Lola used to use, and Blaine smiled. "I love you. You know that, don't you?"

"I know," Blaine said. He focused his dark eyes on her face, "And I love him."

Mother turned back to her dishes, wiping one forearm across her eyes, "I suppose we have enough food for one extra person on Thursday. Call Kurt and tell him we'd be thrilled if he'd join us."

Blaine leaned over to kiss her on the cheek, "Thank you, Mother."

By Thursday, Blaine felt radiant with happiness. Mother had scrubbed the house from top to bottom and forced the family into their best clothing, the same way she did when Leo's girlfriend came for dinner the month before. Dad had grunted a little, but was now dressed in his best blue suit and was sitting in the living room, waiting for Kurt to arrive. Juliet had said a few crude but kind things about wanting to meet Blaine's boyfriend. The only person who could make Blaine's happiness complete was knocking at the door.

Blaine bounced up and opened the door to see Kurt standing on his porch, gazing up with an expression of wonder. "You look beautiful," Blaine gushed, pressing a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek and leading him in.

"It feels like I'm stepping into a Vogue photo shoot," Kurt mused, so quietly that only Blaine and Juliet could hear him. Blaine didn't see the way Juliet's face hardened.

"Welcome," Blaine's Mother said, extending her hand to Kurt with an almost easy politeness.

"You have a beautiful home," Kurt said right back, only slightly nervous as he extended his hand. Blaine was too excited to notice the way Juliet narrowed her eyes when Kurt exchanged pleasantries with Dad. "I love your dress," Kurt said to Juliet, and only then did Blaine notice that her eyes flickered over Kurt's tight black pants, gold scarf, and high-necked, bright red turtleneck sweater. She nodded silently, her eyes fixed on the gold brooch Kurt had pinned over his heart.

She remained silent until approximately halfway through dinner.

"I can see where Blaine gets his manners," Kurt said. Dad only nodded with a slight smile, but Blaine could tell he was slowly warming up to Kurt. Blaine beamed as Kurt continued, "Blaine's such a gentlemen, it's such a breath of fresh air, let me tell you-"

"Your voice is awfully high, isn't it?" Juliet said suddenly.

Kurt jerked as though he'd been shocked, turning to stare at her, "I... yes, I guess it is."

"Is that genetic?" Juliet asked in a mocking sort of tone, "Or do you just talk that way to mess with people."

"Shut up, Juliet," Blaine said quietly.

Kurt's beautiful eyes scanned the table, but no one else said anything to correct her, "I don't understand."

"Well, you obviously love telling people how gay you are," Juliet said, her eyes flicking again to the gold pin over his chest, "I was just wondering if the voice was a part of that, or just a delightfully stereotypical coincidence?"

Kurt ignored her, turning to Mother. "This casserole is amazing, Mrs. St. James. Did you make it from scratch?"

"Thank you, Kurt," Mother gave him a small smile, "It's something I learned in college. Blaine helped me with it."

Kurt beamed at Blaine, "You'll have to teach me the recipe."

"Oh, and you cook too," Juliet said, clapping her hands and talking in an exaggeratedly high voice, "Will the coincidences never stop?"

"Settle down, Julie-Bean," Dad said. But for the first time in her life, Juliet ignored him.

"I thought you were gay, Blaine" Juliet said, "I didn't realize you were just into chicks with dicks."'

The stunned silence was broken a moment later by Kurt scooting his chair up and standing up.

"I have to go," Kurt said softly. "Thank you for the lovely dinner."

He ran out of the dining room. Blaine followed him to the foyer, where he found Kurt shoving a fist through one half of his coat and trembling with emotion. "Kurt, I am so sorry."

"Save it, Blaine," Kurt said. And he ran out of the door.

Blaine had never felt so much rage. It pounded in him, making spots appear in his vision. It rose with every step until he was standing in the doorway to the dining room. Juliet sat against the far wall, her face cold and smug. "Why would you say that to him?"

"He's making everything harder on himself," Juliet snarled, "He acts that way so he can get attention, he's only making himself look ridiculous by wearing those girly clothes-"

"For your information, I love the way he dresses," Blaine said, "And he's a sight better looking than you are."

Ugly spots of color flew into Juliet's cheeks. "He's a faggot," She hissed, "And apparently, so are you."

Blaine crossed the room in three large steps, lunging across the table at her before he could think.

"Blaine!" Mother screamed. Juliet stared up at him, wide eyed, next to the hole his fist had made in the wall by her head. Blaine's chest heaved, tears beginning in the backs of his eyes as he shoved the table away and ran up the stairs to his room.

An hour later, Blaine lay in his bed, stifling sobs and listening to his Mother talking just outside his door. She was trying to be quiet, but he could hear every word.

"He's completely out of control," Mother said, "I don't know what to do with him anymore..."

Blaine rolled over and grabbed his phone, pushing number 3 on his speed dial. "Hello?" Kurt asked, and Blaine winced at the wet sound in his voice.

"I'm so sorry," Blaine whispered.

Kurt sniffed, "I'm sorry, too. It wasn't your fault, I just got so upset. It's not like I haven't heard that stuff before. She's Jesse St. Sucks' sister, what else would she have said? ... Are you okay?"

Blaine was not okay. "Yeah, I think so. Just... talk to me. Okay?"

"Okay."


	4. Jesse

Of all Blaine's siblings, it was Jesse St. James that Blaine pitied the most.

Jesse was trapped, caught between a stern, overbearing father and a mother who had let her heartbreak turn to bitterness years ago. And despite Jesse's living with her for the school year and most of the summer, Blaine's mother couldn't quite bring herself to love her stepson.

His freshman year, Jesse announced that he was moving in with his grandmother in Akron, Ohio so that he could join Vocal Adrenaline, the top show choir school in the country.

"I just decided to head out last night," Jesse said casually once he, Blaine, and Leo were alone, "called Grams this morning. Nice part of nobody wanting you around; you don't have to think much about heading somewhere new."

Then Jesse went silent. That was the odd thing about Jesse. He was almost always silent.

The other odd thing about Jesse was that he hated performing. Like his father and grandfather before him, Jesse had an eye for business. But his father had always wanted more for Jesse; what Jesse wanted was a minor concern. Jesse had tried rebelling in his younger years, but had given up eventually, and settled for silence and the consolation that came from winning. Because of Jesse's silence, he noticed things about his family that nobody else did.

Like the fact that his beloved youngest brother was gay.

Jesse remembered Blaine's childhood better than Blaine himself, because from the time that Jesse was five, he'd been set to watching the babies.

...

"Now, Jesse." Jesse glanced up at his father and the giggling woman beside him, "Daddy has to go have some alone time with his special lady friend. Can you watch the babies for us until we come back?"

Jesse followed his father's finger to where the two curly haired, identical twin boys stood in their play pen, "Okay."

"And we're not going to tell Mommy about this, are we?" Jesse would shake his head. "Good boy," Dad would say, ruffling Jesse's hair as his new girlfriend put a battered VHS into the television. Snow White appeared on the screen and the adults disappeared into a back room, trusting the sound of the TV to cover up their lovemaking.

Daddy's special lady friend only had three VHS tapes. On about the twelveth time watching Snow White, Jesse got a little bored and decided to play with the babies. Blaine was Jesse's favorite. Blaine didn't squirm like Leo when Jesse tried to pick him up, and he didn't pull his hair like Leo did. When Jesse reached his fingers over the side of the play pen, Blaine would bite them gently and giggle. Leo's little face would scrunch up as the toddler tried his hardest to break the skin.

It was cute when Blaine bit his fingers. Jesse carefully waved them in front of Blaine's face. "C'mon, Blaine," Jesse called in his high, childish voice, "Bite my fingers. C'mon, Blaine."

But Blaine didn't respond. His little jewel bright eyes were fixed with rapt attention on the screen, where Prince Charming was serenading Snow White. Leo punched Blaine in the shoulder, hoping to goad him into playing, but Blaine merely whined and batted at him with his arm. Bored and unable to sway his brother from the television, Leo turned his attention to Jesse, lifting his arms with a pleading expression and a tiny, "Me? Up? Me?"

Jesse hoisted Leo out of his play pen. Jesse winced as Leo squealed with delight and got busy attempting to pull his hair out from the roots.

Over the years, especially after Daddy left Mommy and married his special lady friend, Jesse was asked to babysit more and more. They moved from the tiny, dingy one bedroom apartment, got a nicer tv and traded the battered VHS tapes for shiny new DVD's, but nothing much seemed to change for Blaine. All Jesse had to do was put in a Disney princess movie and Blaine would be lost to the world. It wasn't until Blaine was six and told Jesse that he wanted to have a prince come save him that Jesse understood what it meant.

...

Over the years, Blaine pitied Jesse for his silence and shiftlessness. It wasn't until Blaine came out that he began hating Jesse for it.

It was Jesse who remained silent when Dad cleared his throat at the dinner table and said, "Just so you know, Jesse is our favorite." Perhaps if Jesse had said something, anything, Leo wouldn't have run into those friends who got him addicted to drugs. Perhaps Juliet would have stopped herself from throwing up to get thinner. But of course, Jesse said nothing, sitting there with a face that was at once smug and resentful. And when things really started getting bad at home, it was Jesse who announced that he was changing schools again.

"We can't afford to send you to Dalton, too, Jesse," Mother said.

"This isn't about Dalton," Jesse said with equal politeness. "I'm moving in with your ex-husband and going to William Mckinley High School in Lima."

"What?" Mother gasped. Jesse remained silent, and that weekend, when Blaine's biological father came to pick up Blaine and Leo for the weekend, Jesse tagged along. Having Jesse in his father's house was strange, Blaine thought, like mixing pickles and chocolate. Jesse called Blaine's father 'uncle', slept down the hall in the guest bedroom, and had a girl named Rachel over every other night.

Blaine sometimes hated Jesse for going to school with Kurt for a whole semester and never telling Blaine about him.

Of course, Rachel broke Jesse's heart a few months later, leaving Jesse to move back to his grandmother's and Carmel High School in the middle of the night. Jesse was silent when Blaine and Leo asked him what had happened, and things went back to something like normal.

...

"You're different when you're here, Blaine."

Jesse said it in the middle of breakfast, leaving Blaine to stare at his rice crispies, "What do you mean?"

"When you're at your father's, you're all bouncy and happy. You're not like that when you're here. You're Mr. Mature, Mr. I-know-everything. You act like Dad when you're here."

Blaine had learned enough to know that Jesse wasn't complimenting him. "I don't know what you're talking about," He said stiffly.

"Yeah, you do," Jesse said quietly. He leaned forward, dropping his voice, "Look, I'm going to New York in the fall, and I don't have much time left with you. That's the only reason I'm saying this. I know you aren't happy when you're here, Blaine. You're trying so hard to be who they tell you to be, you need to just be-"

" - Just be what, Jesse?" Blaine said, "You know what, I am so sick and tired of people telling me what I need to be, alright?" Jesse was silent for a long moment, collecting his thoughts.

"If you're going to let Dad decide how you're going to act, you might as well become straight for him," Jesse said, "That's all I'm saying."

Jesse was trying to be helpful. Of all of Blaine's family, Jesse was probably the one who cared least about Blaine's sexuality one way or the other. But to Blaine, that conversation felt like a red hot poker in his side. Just one more person who had a problem with who he was.

Two months later he kissed Rachel Berry at a party. It felt nice, rather bland, but nice. Her jaw was a little too smooth, her lips a little too soft to really get his heart racing. But the next morning she called to ask him out. Blaine wasn't proud of what he did next.

"Attention everyone," Blaine said, "I have an announcement to make. I have a new girlfriend."

Dad looked up from his newspaper, just feet away from where Jesse sat, silently staring at Blaine. "That's great, son, glad to hear it. What's her name?"

Blaine locked eyes with Jesse, "Rachel Berry."

Jesse didn't say anything, but his face went white and he went to bed five minutes later. That night, Dad announced that he and Mother had talked it over and Blaine was their new favorite son. The next morning, Blaine broke it off with Rachel, claiming that he'd suddenly 'cleared up' his sexuality, but it was too late.

Jesse never spoke to him again.


	5. Leo

They were born 3 minutes, 58 seconds apart.

Leo was the first, the healthiest, and the heaviest, by about two ounces. He was the one who took up t-ball from the instant he knew how to run, who climbed trees and would randomly tackle Blaine on the couch. Leo was the twin who started – and won – 98 percent of the boy's tickle fights. Leo was the first to toddle across the kitchen floor, cooing while Blaine stared after him. Leo was the first of the twins to kiss someone, a very pretty girl with long blonde hair and sweet brown eyes named Peggy Webster.

While Leo took up polo and fencing, Blaine took up theatre and music. While Leo blazed through every cute girl he could find, Blaine flirted quietly with boys, and fell in love at the drop of a hat. While Blaine preferred to keep his thick, curly black hair short and well tended, Leo let his run wild, growing it out until Mother demanded he get it cut, and then he would take the scissors and saucily lop off a single curl, grinning roguishly the entire time.

Everyone, from Mother to teachers to classmates, would roll their eyes and claim that Leo Anderson was impossible, but somehow they always managed to say it with a smile.

Yet for all their differences, Leo and Blaine still shared many similarities. Neither of them could clap appropriately. They both cared very much about being noticed and liked. Blaine concentrated on keeping people happy; being the leader of the school choir, getting the best grades and following all the rules. Leo would tease people who didn't notice him relentlessly, especially girls, relying on his good looks and natural charm to coax them into liking him. Blaine remembered one time in elementary school when he'd teased a little redheaded girl so harshly that she'd gotten up and hit him, right in the middle of class. And, perhaps most importantly, Blaine and Leo each adored their twin brother with every fiber of their being.

It was that very adoration that had fourteen year old Blaine shaking in his boots the day he decided to come out to Leo.

They were staying at their father's house - their biological father's house, Blaine didn't think he could stand telling Leo under his step-father's disapproving eyes - in the room the two boys shared. Leo was sitting on the bed, wearing a red t-shirt under a blue plaid button-up and reading 'Twilight'.

"You know," He said as Blaine walked into the room, "I'm beginning to think this Bella person might be a bad judge of character."

"I want to ask a boy to Sadie's," Blaine said.

Leo paused and looked up from the book, "Just any old boy, or one in particular?"

"Eric Barney," Blaine said. Eric was one of Blaine's friends, a handsome dark-haired junior who played baseball, and had announced that he was gay in the middle of an English project the year before.

Leo looked down at their bedspread, staying silent for a minute that stretched into forever. Then with a sly grin, he said, "Older man. Nice." Blaine asked Eric out in the middle of Italian, the only class the two boys had together. Leo was sitting in the back, and he applauded them, ignoring the awkward way his hands clapped together.

"And if you don't like it," Leo warned his date, "I'll find another girl to go with."

Leo was Blaine's fiercest protector in the weeks that followed. He complained to the principal when Blaine was teased, threatened to beat up anybody who gave Blaine a cross look. Blaine and Eric decided to leave the dance early to go to a movie that night. Leo and his date were supposed to stay and dance for another hour, yet Leo's voice was the first thing Blaine remembered after the beating, "Blaine! Blaine, c'mon, wake up! Wake up! Call an ambulance! Blaine, Blaine, don't die, please, wake up, please, please..."

"Knew something was wrong with you," Leo said later, in the hospital room, once Blaine was awake and talking again. "Creepy psychic twin powers, I guess." He smiled, but the smile didn't look quite right in his pale face.

"I'm leaving the school," Blaine said, his voice creaking a bit from loss of use.

Leo laughed bitterly, "Yeah, you are." Then his expression softened, "But I'm gonna miss you, George."

Blaine smiled, "I'll miss you, too, Fred." They both loved Harry Potter much more than was socially acceptable.

Leo didn't do very well in school without his twin. Over the next few years, he became more and more short-tempered, coming home from school sour and sullen. He drifted away from the friend's he'd shared with Blaine and gravitated towards a rougher crowd. Blaine didn't always fit in at Dalton; the other boys didn't really care for his sometimes goofy sense of humor, so Blaine traded it in for a sedate uniform and mature attitude. But no matter what - even as Blaine scandalized his parents with a boyfriend and Leo scandalized his parents with an addiction to Whippets - the two boys always supported each other.

Until, without any warning, Leo ended it. He walked into the room the boys shared at their father's house - their biological father, because Leo couldn't bear to have this conversation with Mother hovering around. Blaine was sitting on their bed, reading The Hunger Games.

"You know," Blaine said, "I think this Katniss person may have issues opening up emotionally."

"I think you should break up with Kurt," Leo said.

Blaine froze, and looked up at his brother, "Why would you say that?"

Leo shrugged, looking down at his feet, "I just don't think he's good for you, that's all." He tried to keep his explanation simple, but Blaine kept pestering him until he finally said, "He's so... flamboyant."

"Oh." Blaine stayed silent for a long time, trying to keep from saying anything he'd regret. Both twins had an unfortunate habit of jumping to anger when hurt. "... And if I was... flamboyant, would you think I wasn't good for anyone? What, Kurt doesn't deserve to be loved because he isn't... masculine enough for you?"

"No, it isn't like that!" Leo said. The conversation was not going as well as he'd hoped. "It's just... it's like Juliet said."

"Like Juliet said!"

"I don't know why you would pick someone like that," Leo said hotly.

"Because I love him!" Blaine shouted.

"You can love somebody else!" Leo shouted. The twins glared at each other, and Leo sighed, "You just don't get it."

"What do you mean, I just don't get it?" Blaine asked.

"You ran away, Blaine," Leo said, "That doesn't mean they stopped trying to get at you. You think it was easy, being the gay kid's brother? Once you were gone, it was all on me. Every clever little remark, every taunt, every shove. Girls wouldn't go out with me because they were convinced that I was gay too. Even the people who were cool with it were always trying to get me to come out of the closet, like I couldn't even be myself because you were always there. And you know what? I didn't care. I didn't say anything because I knew it wasn't your fault. But now, you picking Kurt... it's like you're just shoving it in everyone's face. Like you're not even trying to protect yourself."

"I love him," Blaine begged.

Leo, who had never really been in love, just shook his head. "Whatever."

And then he shut out the light and walked out, leaving his friendless, heartbroken twin to cry himself to sleep.


	6. Daddy

Perhaps it was cold of him, but the only way Blaine could think of for getting over his fight with Leo was to spend more time with Kurt. They sat across from each other at their usual table in The Lima Bean, the quaint little coffee shop in West Lima that was a favored Warbler hangout mostly because Blaine's dad owned it. His biological dad, though Blaine hated tacking on that qualifier.

Blaine glanced over at his boyfriend, and felt just a little more confident in his decision. He would have felt better if Kurt was being his usual adorably chatty self, but alas, "You're quiet."

"No. I'm being passive-aggressive." Kurt said. Blaine tilted his head to the side, scared to say anything because he just couldn't handle having another person get mad at him this week. "You promised that by the first day of school, you'd make a decision. And yet, there you sit, cute as ever, but still in your Warblers blazer."

Oh. Blaine hadn't even thought about that. His fight with his brother had blown it right out of his mind. But he had promised Kurt he'd make a decision, and he didn't feel comfortable telling Kurt what had distracted him, so Blaine searched for an excuse.

"I can't just bail on the Warblers," He said, "Those guys are my friends."

"Okay, all right, fine," Kurt glanced down at his lap, thinking, "One final sales pitch, and then we can talk about making over Nancy Grace."

His boyfriend was adorable. "Okay," Blaine laughed.

"If you stay at Dalton," Kurt said, "You and I are competitors."

"That's true."

"And I'm just not sure that our budding love can survive that." Kurt put on an affected air of drama.

"Let me get this straight," Blaine teased, "I have to transfer because you're just afraid that I'm going to beat you at Sectionals?"

"No, I'm afraid that I'm going to beat you."

"Ooh," Blaine smiled, "Ooh, yeah."

"And I know what that does to you when I win," Kurt said. Blaine laughed. Laughing with his boyfriend was one of the easiest things in the world. How bad would it really be to leave Dalton? For the first time, Blaine actually considered it. It would mean trading schools again. It would mean walking through school afraid and taking locker shoves and slushies to the face, which sounded sooo unpleasant. It would mean trading homes again, though at this point, Blaine didn't actually care.

It would also mean Kurt.

Blaine had just about settled it in his mind, when Kurt struck the final blow. "Look, I mean, honestly, I-I just…" Kurt's eyes darted to him, then became so wonderfully earnest, "I just want to see you more. I want my senior year to be magic, and the only way that's gonna happen is if I get to spend every minute of every day with you."

He was so romantic. Blaine smiled, feeling his heart swell with just a little more love for the boy who made his life so perfect, and reached over to grab his hand. Here, in his Dad's coffee shop, was one of the few places Blaine felt actually safe.

"I have to ask my dad."

Kurt sighed, pulling his hand away. "I really wish your step-dad," Kurt was careful to make that distinction, "Didn't have so much control over you. I know you can't do anything about it, but I just-"

"You're protective," The smile was tugging at his lips again. "But I was talking about my other dad. The dad I would have to live with to go to McKinley?"

"Oh," Kurt waved his hand in the air, "He'll say yes."

Blaine certainly hoped so.

It was Friday night on an odd weekend, which meant heading to Daddy's for curfew. Mother called Daddy at eight o'clock every evening to make sure the boys got there on time; if they weren't, their parents would spend the next forty-five minutes yelling at each other, and Blaine hated when they yelled at each other more than anything.

It was 7:54 p.m. when Blaine knocked on his Daddy's door, his weekend bag in one hand.

A second later, the door flew open, and there was Blaine's father. "How are my boys!" His eyes fell on Blaine, "... Boy. What happened to your brother?"

"He had a polo tournament," Blaine said, avoiding his father's eyes, "He decided to stay over at Mother's. Hoped you wouldn't mind."

"No, no. Of course." Blaine could see Daddy mentally calculating how many weekends Leo was missing; if he'd asked out loud, Blaine could have told him it was five. Blaine's father was a tall man with broad shoulders and kind brown eyes; he smelled like coffee - probably why Blaine drank coffee whenever he wanted to feel better - and when he smiled, it stretched across his whole face. He smiled then, "I get to spend some time with my youngest son. You get to choose the movie tonight, congratulations, kiddo."

Blaine carried his bag into the room he usually shared with Leo. He threw it on the queen bed they were getting too old to share, and looked around. It seemed to be evenly divided; polo and fencing trophies for Leo, singing trophies for him. Bookshelves filled with both of the twins books. Blaine wondered if that would change when they were living in different homes. A strange pang filled his chest, and he realized that this is what his father must feel whenever Leo skipped a weekend with them.

"You're quiet, Blainey boy," Daddy said, halfway through dinner. They always ate at the table, something both sets of parents insisted on. Daddy's brown eyes - the eyes Blaine inherited - fell on his plate, "And you aren't eating. You always eat. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Blaine mumbled.

"Okay," Daddy said. He took a bite of his own, "This isn't as good as it should be. I tried out a new recipe Kurt lent me, but it looks like I'll need the master to teach me. When's he coming over?" Daddy seemed to be the only member of Blaine's family who genuinely enjoyed having Kurt over.

"He can't this weekend, he has an audition thing. For college," Blaine took a deep breath, "Can I ask you something?"

"I knew it wasn't nothing," Daddy said with a smile.

"Yeah," Blaine said, "I wanted to ask you if I could... live here. With you." He dared to glance at his father, just in time to see the tiny flare of hope in the older man's eyes.

"You... you know I would love that, baby. But I can't drive you all the way out to Dalton - "

"I want to go to McKinley."

Daddy cocked his head to the side, "Isn't that where Kurt's going? Wait, baby boy, you aren't changing schools for a boy, are you? Cause I have to tell you, that's not a great plan. I don't want to say you'll break up, but you might, and Kurt'll be graduated next year-"

"It's not just that."

"What else is it?"

That's when the emotion hit. It came over Blaine in a sharp wave, making him swallow hard before speaking in a tiny voice, "I hate it there."

He didn't realize his dad had changed seats until he heard the squeal of the chair next to him. "Hey, kiddo... look at me." Blaine hated that command, but he did it anyway, staring at his father's jaw. Daddy's broad thumb swept under his eye. "What's going on?"

"Well, Dalton's no fun anymore, now that Kurt's gone. And it's so expensive, and I don't even like it that much, and I have other friends at McKinley besides Kurt, you know... and... and... everybody hates me."

Blaine started sobbing then, snuffling, humiliating little sobs. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry. Shh..."

"D-Dad made me built a car with him," Blaine said, starting at the beginning, "He made me b-build a car and he just yelled at me the wh-whole t-time... he doesn't even l-like cars... and Mother w-won't take me shopping and she's always t-telling m-me I can't be too girly but I'm not being girly and everybody's yelling at me for dating Kurt and they're all mean to him and I hate it there! I hate it! I want to l-live here with you, D-daddy, p-please..."

Blaine trailed off, startled at the broad finger that was laying across his lips. "Blaine. Look at me." Blaine looked back to his daddy, startled to see that other pair of eyes, so much like his, wet around the edges. "Nobody hates you. Nobody."

"But-"

"Blaine, I'm going to tell you something right now," Daddy said, "Something I've never told anyone. You ready for this?" Blaine nodded, and Daddy looked down at the table, drawing shapes over the wood with his finger, "You know, when your mom called to tell me she was pregnant? You know what the first thing I thought was?"

"How you'd do anything for us?" Blaine smiled thinly.

"Nope," Daddy admitted, "It was the second thing I thought. I wish it was the first. But this tiny, selfish, horrible part of me beat me to the punch. The first thing I thought was, 'He isn't going to be white.'"

Blaine stared at his father, shocked. "You never mentioned that. Is that... a problem?"

"No," Daddy laughed, "No. No. No. It was never a problem. But the thing is... when you're a parent. When you get that call that says you're going to have a little person to love and take care of... you want their life to be perfect. And getting that call from my ex-wife, that I was going to have a mixed race baby... all I could think of was how much harder life was going to be for you. The racism you'd have to deal with, from people who thought you were too Asian, or not Asian enough, the pain of not knowing where you'd fit in, what box to check on college applications... at the time it seemed like a big deal. I wanted to protect you from all of it. And with the divorce... for a while there, I considered backing away. Staying out of your life and letting your mother raise you as one race."

"Wow." Blaine said. He tried to imagine a life without his daddy, and came up empty. Daddy nodded, his face twisted in a half smile. "So, how did you get over it?"

"I called your Nana. And I was telling her about you, and how much I loved you already. At the time, I'd decided that I wasn't going to be a part of your life, and I told her so."

"What did she say?"

"She called me an idiot. I think she would have slapped me over the phone if she could. She said, 'Joe, you're trying to fix him, when you don't even think there's anything wrong with him in the first place. Instead of making him ashamed of who he is, you should be teaching him the skills he needs to be strong, despite everything life throws at him." Daddy covered Blaine's hand with his, "As a parent, when the child you love with your entire heart tells you he's gay, the first thing you think of are all the reasons to be afraid. The prejudice, the hate he'll have to face. The kids killed on the news, the broken hearts... and your first instinct is to say, 'No. No, don't do it. Do the thing that's easy, that's simple. Be safe.' Blaine, please don't cry. Look at me."

Blaine looked up at his father, taking in the matching tears on Daddy's face.

"Your Nana had been dead for ten years. But I could hear her in my head like it was yesterday. I was trying to fix you, and I didn't even think there was anything wrong. I still thought you were perfect, so my job wasn't to make you stop being gay. It was to teach you to be strong. And you are so strong, baby boy. I am so proud of you."

"I'm glad," Blaine whispered, "I want you to be."

"Your mom, and your step-dad, they don't hate you," Daddy said, "They love you. I promise. But you have to understand, baby boy, they are so scared of you getting hurt. They're so scared of you being hurt that sometimes they're the ones hurting you. But you are strong, and you are loved. And I promise you... I promise you, Blaine. You're going to be okay."

It was silent for a long moment, "... So, does this mean I can move in with you?"

Both men burst into a fit of wet, sobby laughter. "Yes," Daddy said, when the hysterics had subsided, "Yes, you can move in with me. But on one condition. You call your mother and tell her how you've been feeling. I don't want you moving in with me because you think she doesn't want you there, because that. is. not. true. You hear me?" Blaine nodded, smiling, "There's my bright little boy. Now, what's say we break the rules, just for tonight, and finish dinner in front of the tv. I hope you've been thinking about the movie you wanna watch, cause you're picking."

"Mmmmm," Blaine thought for a moment, "Moulin Rouge? And, can I call Kurt and tell him I'm transferring? No, wait, I'll surprise him on Monday - oh, that'll be so awesome!"

"Oh, and don't you need a new clothing allowance?" Daddy said, "Tell you what; I'll give you enough for some new school stuff. Clothing is usually your mother's arena, but I think I can take care of it for you just this once."

"I can pick whatever I want?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, I trust you," Daddy said, "Wait, no. Maybe you should take Kurt with you, just in case. I'm telling you, I'm thinking of letting him dress me. That kid is a snazzy dresser." Daddy picked up his plate, heading towards the door until his child called him back.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"No problem, kiddo. You know I'd do anything for you."

Blaine did.


End file.
